Bad year for Sparrowhawks?

[RobinP]

Apparently (because I read it on the Springwatch website) Sprawks are having trouble raising young because they lost so much body weight during the harsh winter. Is this happening to any other raptor species? I would have thought kestrels most at risk because they need to maintain a very precise body weight.

Any informed comments welcome

Robin

[TeresaW]

The springwatch kestrels at Pensthorpe certainly didn't seem to have suffered too much from the harsh winter, as they managed to hatch four healthy chicks before mum was killed by a car.

(Have you heard any more about them? Did dad carry on feeding them until they fledged? Has he taught them how to catch their own food?)

Let's hope all our raptors survived and can breed succesfully this year.

[RKB]

I very much doubt that there is any evidence to back up that claim on the website. Is that a proper study or just someone's hunch?

Sparrowhawks breed late, and the harsh winter was about 3 months before they even thought about breeding. If they'd been underweight for 3 months they'd be dead.

Also, one could mount a strong argument suggesting that Sparrowhawks should have enjoyed the winter, because there should have been plenty of weak and feeble finches and thrushes to catch.

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by RKB

Also, one could mount a strong argument suggesting that Sparrowhawks should have enjoyed the winter, because there should have been plenty of weak and feeble finches and thrushes to catch.

And also very good feeding opportunities at the queues at the bird tables and feeding areas that sprung up in peoples' gardens and out in the countryside during the bad weather.

[RobinP]

The Kestrels chicks are just about to fledge, I prefer the alternative theory that the Sprawk nest was predated by Jays or Crows.

[TeresaW]

Thanks for that Robin, good news! (the kestrels I mean, not the jays or crows)